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The brown before Spring

The truth is I love cool weather which Spring is finally providing. It is an early Spring and we are likely not out the woods yet but the snow has left the woods of Wisconsin making for a fine weekend. I got a little bit of everything. High winds, warm day, rainy the next with a mix of sleet and snow. A fine mix of weather. There was still mud but not as much as the last time we were at the 4-Acre Wood.

There is this bird that always makes me think that Spring is on the way. I never knew the name of this bird although it is rather common. My daughter informed me that it is a chickadee. On Sunday this bird started singing its song, its call for Spring while there was a still a drizzle falling from the sky. I knew then that the rain would stop soon and that it was time to get the dishes done. I don't mind doing dishes outside even with the long process to get it done (heating water, hauling everything out, lugging the water container to the table, etc).

Aside from the lack of snow, there isn't much else to the signs of Spring. Everything is brown, yellow, dark. Not much is green except the moss that is there year round. I loved that the brown backdrop made all of our man-made colors stand out.

We pass two very different sorts of farms on our way home. One has that cute pink barn. I've always wondered about the people who live there. All the wood trim around their property is pink. Each year I watch their large garden grow and cheer when I see such sturdy, happy stalks of corn and sunflowers. The other farm is a factory farm producing turkey. I've always wonder about the wild turkeys in the area and what they have to say about the operation. We always see the trail of white feathers that lead to the town with the processing plant. Such differing language to describe each farm. Such different sorts of food.

Yes, the season is finally turning. I say "finally" as if this is the usual for Upper Midwest. It is not. Like I said, it is an early Spring. For that I am glad.